Brain Development Archives - National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
The Teen Brain: A Short Film
September 21, 2024 | NWI
This ten-minute film, which was featured on Good Morning America, discusses mental health and resilience in a way that is engaging and accessible to young people.
Trauma During Critical Periods Can Alter Children’s Brain Development
September 21, 2024 | NWI
A panel examined the ways young children’s brain development is affected by traumatic experiences such as violence, war, and separation from parents.
What Foster and Adoptive Parents Need to Know About Child Trauma
July 28, 2024 | NWI
Early childhood trauma affects kids on a physiological level, and can cause behaviors ranging from detachment to clinginess to violent outbursts. Foster and adoptive parents are often unaware of just how tough it might be – emotionally and financially – to raise a child with a trauma background. This article explores how some caregivers have managed.
New Research Links Childhood Adversity to Adolescent Mental Health Difficulties
June 16, 2024 | NWI
A new study from researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia reveals that childhood environmental factors – including exposure to abuse, poverty, and pollutants – correlate with increased stress and mental health challenges during adolescence.
Drug-Free Approaches to Treating Anxiety
June 16, 2024 | NWI
A promising new approach to treat anxiety in teens involves intentional recall of a teen’s fears followed by a “memory reconsolidation updating” protocol.
What Clinicians Think is Driving the Youth Mental Health Crisis
May 13, 2024 | NWI
This brief describes findings from a survey of 1,400 clinicians regarding the reasons behind the national youth mental health crisis that continues to perplex government, health and community leaders.
Teen Behavior, Explained by a Neuroscientist
April 8, 2024 | NWI
A researcher at Tufts School of Medicine explains how brain development – as well as current events – can influence decision-making in adolescence.
‘Anti-Dopamine Parenting’ Can Curb Children’s Cravings
July 23, 2023 | NWI
Parents are constantly being told they have to limit how much junk food their children can eat or how long they allow them to use their devices. This can be a struggle, but neuroscientists now know what’s happening in a child’s brain that drives this overconsumption, and what parents can do to counteract the cravings that lead children to overconsume.
Anti-Poverty Programs May Help With Mental Health Disparities
May 22, 2023 | NWI
States that provide stronger social safety nets have lower socioeconomic disparities in the brain development and mental health of children 9 to 11 years old, according to research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health.
What’s Behind Steep Rises in Autism Rates?
April 21, 2023 | NWI
New research suggests doctors have improved at identifying autism, especially among children with average or above-average IQs. But that doesn’t fully explain the trend.